Only the Beginning
by zvforever
Summary: Tyler slowly walked over to her, gently raised her chin with his hand so that she would look at him and softly said, "Care, you should know by now not to listen to your mom." Rated T for safety. Post 2x05


**A/N: This is my first fic in a while and my first TVD one ever. Either way, I absolutely love the idea of Forwood and really hope it eventually happens. Anyway, I've been trying to think of a good Forwood plot for a while, and this simple story came to mind today. A big thank you to Jess for being my beta! And, hope you all like it! ENJOY AND REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.**

_Only the Beginning_

It's been two days since Caroline's mother chose death rather than dealing with Caroline. In those two days, everyone at the boarding house attempted to lift Caroline's spirits. Even Damon tried to cheer Caroline up, after which he yelled at her mother for killing her daughter's lively spirit.

Currently, Caroline was sitting at a table at the Mystic Grill, staring out the window, pondering her future that was now so uncertain. She was so focused on the scenery that she didn't even hear someone sitting down in the seat across from her.

"Stare at that window any harder, Forbes, and it'll shatter," said a smirking Tyler as Caroline jumped at the comment.

"Don't scare me like that," she breathed.

"Sorry, but it's a little hard for me to believe that a girl like you can get scared so easily," he said with a smirk plastered on his face.

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked uneasily.

"Oh come on, Care. We've known each other our whole lives, and despite what others may think, I actually pay attention, so I can tell when there's something off with you," He stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world, while Caroline merely stared at him. "Care? Hellooo, earth to Caroline," he said as he waved his hand in front of her face.

"Sorry, it's just, I'm not the same person I was before the accident, Ty," Caroline said softly.

"Caroline," Tyler said softly but strongly, looking her straight in the eyes, "I know." And that's when Caroline realized that Tyler knew everything. He knew that she was a vampire, and he knew that his uncle was a werewolf. That meant that he knew how screwed up her life was at the moment, yet he showed no pity like everyone else did. "Let's go play some pool."

Caroline doesn't know what force propelled her to follow him to the pool table, but she knew that if she didn't do something normal, then it would only be a matter of time before she snapped. The two silently picked out their pool sticks and set up the balls.

Tyler let Caroline break before asking, "So what has you even more depressed than usual? I figured it's something other than the fact that you broke up with Matt."

"Matt broke up with me," she quickly responded; the statement was like a reflex now.

"Caroline, you can deny it all you want, but I know that that was your doing. Even if Matt got annoyed with all your insecurities, he still wouldn't dump you straight out of the hospital," Tyler responded. Caroline winced at his words, though she was grateful that he always told her the truth, no matter how much she didn't want to hear it.

Caroline set up to hit her next ball as she almost inaudibly said, "It's my mom." Tyler wouldn't have even known she had spoken had he not seen her lips move.

"What happened this time?" Tyler asked with a sigh. Caroline had forgotten that Tyler was the only other person besides Elena who knew the crap her mom put her through.

"She found out about me," Caroline stated simply while suddenly becoming extremely interested in her pool stick.

Tyler's head snapped up at her words. He knew that there was something strange going on at the sheriff's office, considering his father had been killed because of it, but he never knew what.

"Caroline, what exactly does your mother do?" he asked, trying not to probe too much. As Caroline was about to respond, Tyler shot her a look that clearly stated that he obviously wasn't talking about the fact that she was the sheriff.

"She hunts us," Caroline sighed.

Tyler's mouth formed an 'o' shape as he tried to formulate another sentence. "So what happened?"

Caroline knew that she shouldn't be telling Tyler any of this, but she somehow knew that she could trust him. After all, he had been there the night she was attacked by Mason. "Your Uncle Mason led Damon and Stefan into the woods, after which my mother shot them. Elena and I heard all this, so we ran to help them. That's when my mother discovered that I was a vampire. Damon then proceeded to threaten to kill her to which she responded that she'd rather be dead than see me like this. She wanted to be compelled to forget about all this, so Damon was going to do it, but she had to stay at the boarding house for a few days for the vervain to leave her system. I went down to go see her, but she told Damon to keep me away from her, and that I'm not her daughter anymore."

Tyler stayed quiet while Caroline was telling the story. He was about to respond when Caroline interjected, "It's fine," she said quickly, "you don't have to say anything. I've gotten enough sympathy in the last two days." She leaned against the pool table as she looked down at the floor as she tried to remember the last time she felt this insecure and vulnerable.

Tyler slowly walked over to her, gently raised her chin with his hand so that she would look at him and softly said, "Care, you should know by now not to listen to your mom."

Caroline cracked a small smile at that statement, but responded, "I know, but she's still my mom. I can't not listen to her and not have her opinions influence me. It's kind of like you and your dad were."

Tyler looked away from her – nobody had said anything to him about his father since the funeral. Leave it to Caroline to bring it up somehow.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he stated firmly as he walked around to the other side of the pool table, so that he wouldn't be standing directly next to her.

"Oh don't give me that bullshit, Tyler. You know perfectly well what I'm talking about. Your dad was a jackass. No offense, but he was. He was condescending and he would reprimand you for normal teenage behavior, and as much as you didn't want his opinion to matter, it did anyway."

"And why would you think that?"

"Because I know you just as well as you know me, Tyler. I've seen your dad beat up on you dozens of times. I know how he was. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a coincidence that our parents were working together despite the fact that they're the sheriff and the mayor. I saw the look in your eyes every time he'd say something to you. Your eyes would flare up while you tried not to lose your temper, and as much as you probably told yourself that what he said didn't matter, it still kept you up at night."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Forbes," he said coldly.

"Don't I?" Caroline asked matter of factly. "Deny it all you want Tyler, but I know you, and we have more in common than you think."

"You know what, you're right Caroline. I should just forget about all the shit my father put me through and realize that I did care about his opinion, and maybe even embrace the beast that's inside me that I've been fighting every day since the accident," he nearly shouted as people began looking at them.

The second Caroline saw that he was beginning to lose control, she moved closer to him and took his face in both her hands. "Tyler," she said urgently as he wouldn't look her in the eye. "Tyler, look at me."

When he looked up, Caroline gasped at his yellow orbs. She never saw them the night of the accident. "Tyler, just breathe," she said quietly but urgently. She knew that if he didn't calm down now, then he'd do something he'd regret. "Just focus on me and breathe."

Tyler kept his eyes on Caroline's as he attempted to calm himself down. When he finally exhaled, he closed his eyes and moved his forehead towards Caroline's. Caroline let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I can't control it."

"It takes time, Ty," she replied. As they moved apart they kept their eyes on each other.

"So who would've thought: you and I, dealing with the supernatural?" Tyler said as he laughed at his own statement. It still seemed surreal.

Caroline laughed, "I know. It seems like a dream, but at the same time it's a living nightmare."

"It doesn't have to be a nightmare, Care," he said softly.

"I guess, but I've given up my friendships with practically everybody because I'm too dangerous. All I have now is Elena and Stefan, and yeah okay, maybe Damon sometimes, but Bonnie has completely shunned me, and Matt is pissed, and my mother has disowned me, so I practically have no one."

"You have me," he stated firmly. "Hell, no one can understand what either of us are going through right now better than we can. So I say, we forget all of the crap that's been going on lately and take this on from a completely different perspective."

Despite her serious tone, Caroline cracked a smile, "We're not five anymore, Ty. We can't just run around and act like we rule all."

"Maybe not," he agreed, "but we can still pick each other up when one of us falls. That's what we used to do Care. I'd fall and you'd threaten whatever punk threw me down or you'd cry and I'd punch whatever jerk made you break down. Who says all that has to change?"

"Because it already has, Tyler," Caroline said. She was very close to hysterics, but she wouldn't let herself crack.

"Okay yes, we're both dealing with some kind of supernatural forces, and yes, you just got out of a relationship with my best friend, and yes, we both have screwed up home lives, but that doesn't change the fact that we've had each other's backs since we were little kids. I don't know about you, but that hasn't changed for me."

"Me neither, but –," Caroline began, but was immediately cut off by Tyler, "No buts. We may be having trouble now, but we'll get through this Care, we just need to help each other out."

Despite the fact that Caroline knew that Tyler would keep his word, she had a hard time trusting anyone these days.

"Look, I know that you've been betrayed way too many times to count, but you know me, I would never do anything to hurt you; even if our species evidently hate each other."

Caroline let out a laugh. After a few seconds, she whispered, "You're right."

Tyler displayed a huge smile on his face. He was one of the only people who could persuade Caroline into almost anything. "This is only the beginning Care. We stick together and we'll take the world by storm." She still had the smile on her face as she looked down towards the floor; Tyler loved to make her smile, and he could tell that this time, it wasn't forced. "Now, are you ready to lose at pool or what?"

"Dream on, Lockwood," she smirked as she shoved him lightly.

_Finished_

**A/N: Okay, so I'm still a bit rusty, but I really hope that was okay. Thanks so much for reading and please leave a little review if you can! I really love reading them! Thanks!**


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